The Weather In Africa

There are several important factors that influence the weather Africa such as the effect of ocean currents and the absence of mountains ranges.

However the most important factor to remember is that Africa’s seasons are reversed from the summer/winter seasons of the northern hemisphere, with the cooler, drier, months usually providing the best game viewing opportunities.

African Weather Systems

East and Central Africa

The long rains are from early April through early June, and the short rains from late November through December. It is often less expensive to travel during the long rainy season. Dry seasons offer excellent visibility and more reliable road conditions, and game tends to congregate around the limited water sources, making the animals easier to find. July and August are generally extremely busy in East Africa, offering comfortable temperatures in addition to being a popular time for travel world-wide, so be sure to book well in advance.

Southern Africa

The rainy season runs mainly from late November through mid-April in the safari regions; however if you are travelling to South Africa, the southern Cape is experiencing summer at that time and is a wonderful place to visit. The Cape area can be cold and rainy during their winter from June through August. Often high season rates for the safari regions go into effect in July so it is sometimes possible to save a bit of money by travelling prior to that - May and June can be delightful months to travel. Due to the smaller size of safari camps and lodges in southern Africa, it is necessary to book well in advance, particularly for travel from June through September.

Zambia

Our safari destination of choice is Zambia, whose elevation on a plateau gives it a moderate climate, despite the fact that it is within tropical latitudes. There are three seasonsin Zambia, cool and dry from April to August, hot and dry from September to October and warm and wet from November to March. Only during the wet season is there noticeable humidity. In the river valleys of the Zambezi and Luangwa it only becomes very hot in the month of October.

Weather Forecast

There are a number of websites that provide a daily report on weather, on a country by country, city by city basis, World Weather.org being a leading such site.